Last Sunday on Sup, Holmes?, we featured the our very first guest who may be more afraid of his game succeeding than having it fail. If you’ve played the award-winning Antichamber before, then you’re probably not surprised that its creator sees things differently than your average developer, but even I was caught off guard by Alexander Bruce’s anxiety about his game’s potential to become the next Portal.
It made me wonder if, on some level, he doesn’t want the game to be a pop sensation, and that’s why he didn’t shoehorn in some GLaDOS-style comedy relief or quirky credits music into the game. As our talk went on, I came to the conclusion that it’s not that Alexander doesn’t want Antichamber to be a success. It’s that he doesn’t want the game to succeed in anything other than engaging with the player in a very specific way. The idea of putting anything before that goal, including financial gain, critical acclaim, or a general sense of “popularity” would be failure for the game and the man who made it.
At least, that’s my interpretation. Feel free to check out the full episode (in video form, on iTunes, or otherwise) and tell us what you think. While you’re at it, stop by this Sunday at 1pm PST/4pm EST for another live recording of the show. We’ll have Retro City Rampage‘s Brian Provinciano on to do a post mortem of his radical new game for winners. Be there!
